A ay you can save time without scuttling labs is to only research the techs you NEED, it saves crystal and credits too in the start. There are a couple techs that are worthless to certain types of players, so avoid those and keep the research facilities, and only build them as you expand, one of each type for each planet should put you at a good tech rate. That gives you enough room for factories, trade ports, refineries, and broadcast centers later on. I believe you keep bonuses, but lose construction and stationary functionallity capabilities if you lose the labs of each level, so sometimes back-up labs on interior worlds might be a good idea if an enemy offensive is coming through.
